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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. track — to keep track
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. season — of the year
  7. ground — a position
  8. snap — to click
  9. track — a path
  10. wound — an injury
  11. race — humankind
  12. track — a song
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. field — farmland
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ground — the earth
  20. race — the arms race
  21. wake — a trail
  22. field — for sport
  23. ground — crushed
  24. field — a subject

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com